Day 147 - Another day in Darwin

Hi everyone, I hope your day went as well as mine. For me, the day started with a crazy short drive in the early hours, trying to find the marina where my fishing charter was going from. Luckily made it in time, and got there with 10 minutes to spare. We had 11 people on board, and due to the huge tidal changes, had solid rods with huge sinkers on them. With that sort of rod, I was expecting/hoping for some big fish, but alas, that didn't occur. For the 4 hours I was out on the boat, I caught 4 fish, the biggest being the fish you can see in the photo below. At least I caught 4 different types of fish, and none of them were flathead or toadies.

After the fish charter (and note, I probably won't doing much fishing till the great barrier reef now), I headed in to town to do a bit of shopping/walk around, until my hotel room was ready. Luckily I walked in to the room just in time to see the start of the Pies/Blues game. Or should I say shalaking. Go Pies, lets just home they continue playing like this for another 7-8 weeks.

After that, I walked back into town, to see lots of drunken people walking around, coming from the horse races. So the best place for me was in to see another movie, this time Inception. Big movie, not sure if I liked it or not.

Anyway, I'm off to Litchfield tomorrow, so that should be fun. When I was hear 15 years ago, I liked it way more than Kakadu, so we'll see if that feeling still sticks.

Catch ya

Pink/Red Fish

Wave Pool

Day 146 - Darwin part 2

Hi All, it's good to be back to just writing one blog a day, yesterday was a real killer.

So today was a day of activity. After dropping off my car at 7:30 for a service (30,000km), I headed in to town to do a few things.

First on the agenda was to head to Aquascene, the place where every day, hundreds to fish come to shore to be hand fed. And had fed they were. Lots of different fish, including mullet, milkfish, batfish, cod, barramundi, archer fish and so on. It was a nice activity, although mainly for kids I think, although some of the fish were bigger than the kids feeding them. Luckily no crocs or sharks.

From there I walked around town, just to get a feel for the place. In doing so, I've logged myself in for a fishing charter tomorrow. Hopefully my luck has improved, now that Steve has left.

It was already hot, so I headed in to see a movie, Knight and Day. Has anyone seen it? Not sure whether is was good or not, I'm still trying to work out if it was a comedy or not.

Back on the tour, I headed to Crocosaurus Cove, a crocodile "zoo" in the cbd. Lots of up close and personal crocs, but to be honest, apart from the pool of little ones, they were pretty boring, just sleeping all day.

From there I headed back to the hotel, via a shopping centre, and spent a few hours sitting/swimming in the pool, along with reading a book.

Fish Feeding - Mullet and Batfish

Lots of little baby crocodiles

Day 145 - From Kakadu to Jumping Crocs

Hi all,

This is going to be a short one, as I've already written 3 tonite. So what did I do today?

Firstly I went to the Uranium Mine in Kakadu, to see the mine. I didn't see much, except for a huge hole in the gr0und, similar to the gold super-pit in Calgoolie.

From there I went in to Jabiru, just to see the hotel that looks like a crocodile. Not bad, but hard to get a decent photo, what with it's size, and all the trees around it.

From there I went to Ubirr, what I think is the main Rock Art in Kakadu. I even recalled doing this one 16 years ago. Lots of lovely pictures, like yesterday, and lots of heat as well.

After that walk, I then headed out of Kakadu, and onto my way to Darwin. About 60km short of Darwin, is the famous Jumping Crocodile cruise, and hour long cruise on a double decker boat, where they get crocodiles, some as long as 6 metres to come to the boat and jump for food. It's quite and act to see, even the main "father" croc came for a hunt.

Now I'm in Darwin, in a run-down hotel, right beside the main airport. I'm hear for 2 nights, not sure how I'll sleep, but will give it a try.

Until tomorrow.

Ubirr Artwork

Jumping Croc

Day 144 - And in to Kakadu

Hi Guys, it's with sadness, that today, I was to be left alone, as my friends, and travel partners for the last few weeks were going home today.

But before we parted, we did one last thing together, and that was to go to see the Edith Falls, a waterfall area about 60km north of Katherine. And it was a nice walk, all of about 100 metres from the car.

From there, I hopped back into the car, alone, and headed towards Kakadu. With a full day's plans, I drove into Kakadu, and did the following:

Gunlom Gorge, a lovely waterfall/pool, where even though you're warned not to go in due to Crocs, lots of people were still swimming in the water. (not me that is).

I then attempted to go to Maguk, but once I found the road turning to soft sand, I turned around quickly.

I then headed to Yellow Water, a lovely lake/lagoon, with a fantastic boardwalk to stroll along. It's about now that I should tell you that the temperature was 37 degrees, and about 99% humidity. So much for dry season.

I then headed to Nourangie Rock, one of the two main areas I believe in Kakadu, as it's a lovely walk along-side rock that's been painted 7000 years ago. I myself think someone just goes along each day with chalk and touches it up.

From there I headed to the Aurora resort, where I spent the night, doing laundry and being chased/chasing cane toads. Gotta love the life.

Edith Falls

Yellow Water

Nourlangie Rock

Day 143 - To Katherine Gorge

Hi Everyone,

Yes, it's still a little upset about missing that Barra, but there will be other times. So what did I do today. Well, in Katherine, there's lots of things to do, and also a bit of a worry about doing them. I'm not going to harp on the Aboriginals in the town, but lets just say that there was some ugliness on the streets when we first got into town.

Anyway, we started our day, late, and headed to the local Hot Springs for a nice little dip. The water running through little stream was a leisurely 32 degrees, and i think we spent the next 90 minutes swimming in it, relaxing.

From there we headed to the Katherine Gorge area, where we took a 2 hour boat cruise down the river, enjoying the comments made by the Javanese boat driver. Now I have to say, after doing the Geikie Gorge, and the Bungle Bungles, Katherine Gorge wasn't that great. It was lovely, but maybe I've seen too much rockwork of late.

Anyway, time to finish this one up, I have 2 more to write today (see Sue, I am alive!!)

Steve, Nancy, Kiara and Tia

Hot Springs

Me, Nancy and Kiara

Day 142 - 2 out of 3 aint bad

So today was the day, the day when Steve and I could get a chance to catch the famous Barramundi. For those of you that don't know, many years ago I set myself a task of catching 3 types of fish, Snapper, Shark and Barramundi. So far I've managed to catch the first two, but not the third.

So we got picked up nice and early, by Colin our friendly fishing guide, and with Sarah, the english girl, being our 3rd person on deck, we headed off to the Ord River. Now we quickly got chatting, and found out that Sarah had never fished before, not for whiting, pike, etc. So straight away Steve and I knew we were in trouble.

It didn't take us long to get into the water, and before we started fishing, we were having a look at all the crocodiles in the water.

It didn't take long for the first Barra to be caught, and low and behold, you wouldn't guess it, Sarah got on to it. It was both beautiful and horrible to watch, someone who doesn't even know how to hold a rod, set besides a beautiful fish being caught. Within minutes the fish, about 65cm long was in the boat, and a number of photos were taken.

About half an hour later, Steve got on to a fish, but it was with laughter that he brought in a horrible catfish. But he had the last laugh, just minutes later he got on to a beauty, and did his best to get the fish in. Now when you look to the bottom of this entry, you'll see the fish he caught. With a fight to get his fish out of the reeds, he finally got his 86cm Barramundi into the boat. And luckily for the fish, it was too big to keep. Now speaking to Steve about this later, this was the best fish he's ever caught.

So all the pressure came to me, and about an hour later, I had a Barra go for my bait. Unfortunately for me, I pulled on the line to hard, and lost the fish. And that was to be he only fish I was got get near for the day. But a day's great fishing all round.

So after we fished all morning, we headed off to Katherine, a misery 510km away. Not much to say about the drive, except for Gregory National Park. We drove though it, but it seemed lovely, all these cliffs and also with a big river running through it.

Oh well, I now need to find another place to catch a Barra..... Lance, how's the Daintree looking?

Days 140 + 141 - A couple of days in Kununurra

Hi all,

I hope your weekend went well, and you had lovely weather. For me, I had 32 both days, withouth a drop of rain.

So the last 2 days has been spent around Kununurra, as we relaxed after a few hectic days. That will change in the next few days. As you'll all know, I'm pretty dedicated to the footy, so much of the Saturday was spent at the pub watching the game. And a good pub we found, as it was pretty quiet, and the girls behind the bar spent most of their time playing with the kids, and giving us free beer.

After a successful win by the Pies, we came back to our resort where we spent the afternoon/evening swimming and drinking. Steve and I then headed back into town, walking, around 10pm, and headed to the local pub. Funny story, Steve got asked to "blow into this bag" to get in. Never seen that before.

Anyway, Sunday was a little different. We drove 70km to Lake Argyle, the second largest dam in Australia. We had a nice relaxing lunchtime, sitting by the Ord river, looking at people trying to catch Barra.

Speaking of which, Steve and I are going on a charter tomorrow, in the aim of getting on to one. So I better go, and get some good sleeps. Bye

Days 138 + 139 - Welcome to the Bungles

"we've got fun and games...."

Hi everyone, so guess what we've done in the last 2 days. We entered and moved around the Bungle Bungles. Now for those people that don't know, the BB's are a rocky mountain range in the middle of no-where in the top of WA. What makes it so special is that the road in it pretty difficult, and puts many people off. The fact that you have to cross 5 river-beds just to get to the visitors centre tells you a story. Luckily, in the dry season, it's a little easier, only 2 of the rivers had water in it, but it still took over 2 hours to travel the 53kms to the visitors centre.

Once we got in, we headed north, to the wonderful Echidna Chasm, a lovely 2 km walk, that takes you inside a rock wall, as the sides of the gorge get closer and closer together.

From there, we headed to our camp site for the night, a camp site with a little style and lots of relaxation. The tents there were permanent and both our dinner and breakfast were already sorted. Such a great way to do it, if you're not fully into bringing all your own stuff in. We met lots of lovely people.

The next day, we headed to the local airport, so that Steve and Nancy could take helicopter flights over the bungles, what Nancy rated as her best flight ever. At this time, I did feel a little jealous, as I decided not to do it, to save a bit of money.

From there we headed to two walks, the Cathedral Gorge and the Domes. Two fantastic walks, that my photos will never do justice. Right here I have to tell you, these rock formations are of a par/better than the Olgas and Ayers Rock. Absolutely stunning.

After finishing those walks, were then headed out of the Bungles, are are no in the town of Kununurra. Steve and I are going to try hunt down a fishing charter tomorrow, in the hopes of catching a Barra.

Stay happy.

Camp Tent

Ready to Hike?

Cathedral Gorge

Day 137 - Wolfe Creek

Hi all, that's right, two entries in 1 day. That's mainly cause I was too lazy yesterday to write it.

So today saw us going to see the Wolfe Creek Crater. A lovely 2 and a half hour drive down dirt roads, it also included being pulled over by the police for a random check.

For those people that dont know, this crater is famous for 2 reasons, 1. it's the second largest meteoric crater in the world, and 2. it's the scene of the famous aussie horror movie, Wolfe Creek.

For us, we had no issues with the car not starting there, and it was a short climb up the crater side to see the magnificent views.

After the long drive back, we headed to the China Wall. This is a beautiful rock formation that looks similiar to the Great Wall of China, abeit much smaller.

So tomorrow we're heading in to the Bungle Bungles. Most likely we'll be offline there, as we're camping inside for the night. So catch you in a few days.

Day 136 - Geikie Gorge and then to Halls Creek

Hi all, I hope things are going well. Lance, how's the recovery going??

As for me, we left Fitzroy Crossing, after having a lovely breakfast in the scary looking caravan park we stayed in. We headed in to town, then drove the 20km to the Geikie Gorge National Park. Once we got there, we did what everyone else does, jumped on a boat tour to see the lovely gorges that abound here. Probably the most exciting thing about this hour long boat trip was the number of freshwater crocodiles in the water. So much cuter and friendlier than the "salties" but I still wouldn't want to swim with them.

After the cruise, we drove to Halls Creek, a lovely mainly aboriginal town that's main claim to fame is that it's in the main drive through area for people driving between Broome and Darwin.

We had a lovely relaxing afternoon, enjoying the drunken aboriginals running and then getting kicked out of our hotel. A real eye-opener.

Day 134 - Cape Leveque and the Horizontal Waterfalls

Hi Everyone, I hope your day was as good as mine. Just to re-iternate, good to see the Pies on the top of the ladder.

So today I got to do one of my "my do" tasks, heading to Cape Leveque and the Horizontal Waterfalls. Unfortunately there was no accommodation, so we had to this all in one day. So the start of the day was a rush around, trying to find a company that would fly us up there, which we eventually did.

Once organised, I got a chance to walk around town, to actually see Broome a little. We then headed down to the local beach/kids park for a little RnR, before heading to the airport. A little fun was had there, as we couldn't find the right area of the airport, with no help from the staff there either, so we ended up being 30 minutes late.

So we had a 6 seater plane all to ourselves, and took off shortly after. The flight up to the horizontal waterfalls was interesting, but the waterfalls was the place to go. We had a chance to do a few laps around the waterfalls, which were amazing, before heading off. I should probably now tell you that I took about 50 photos there. Crazy.

From there we headed to Cape Leveque for some time on the ground. It gave us a good chance to check the place out, without having to drive on the dirt/sandy roads.

From there, back to Broome, where we got to see the sunset over Cable Beach, all from the comfort of our plane.

So we're leaving Broome today, heading into the wild land. Not sure when I'll be on the internet again.

See ya

Horizontal Waterfall

Cape Leveque

Cable Beach

Day 133 - Fishing in Broome

Hi all, I hope you're all doing well. For me, I had a great day today. Steve and I went on a fishing charter in Broome, with the aim to catch lots of fish.

The start of the day was very strange, the charter didn't start till 9:30am, when I'm used to leaving around 6am. I guess it's something to do with the huge tides they have here.

Steve and I decided early to have a bet (as if I wouldn't), with the 1st fish, biggest fish and most fish, where the winner gets to have the other person be his personal drink slave. Well it didn't take much time before Steve caught the first fish, and not long after to catch the 2nd and 3rd. Lots of varied fish, and no Snapper in sight. My first fish came in as some 20cm fingerling.

Let's just say now that I probably had my worst fishing charter of the trip. I think we were up to 6 versus 2 fish, before I hit pay-dirt. I got on to a nice fish, and was having a a nice fight, and then, wzzzzz, my line goes crazy, as a shark takes my fish, but luckily the shark stayed on. After a 15 minute fight, with lots of runs and sore arms, I got the 7 foot whaler shark to the boat. Absolutely great fun, and even though I didn't catch anything else after that, it made my day.

After fishing, we ran back to catch up with Nancy, so they could get to the beach before sunset.

Day 132 - And now I'm in Broome

Hi Everyone, I hope you're all well.

So today was a interesting day, sort of. After being woken up consistently from 5am, by all the miners in the motel, I got up at 7am and did the usual, shower/breakfast etc. Today the plan was to drive to Broome, a 620km drive. Now I have to say, todays drive wasn't very interesting at all. Apart from having a 300km gap between roadhouses, which meant not seeing much, I got to Broome 7 hours later and caught up with Steve and Nancy.

The hotel they'd chosen, the Oaks, was fantastic. The best hotel I've been in since the ones in Ayers Rock. With a large pool in the middle of all the rooms, not even 10 metres from my room, it's great.

In the evening we decided to go to see a moving in Sun Pictures, an outside/inside theatre, where everyone sits in deck chairs. We saw Bran New Dae, which was very topical, as the movie is set in Broome itself. Not a bad movie, although I'm not a huge fan of musicals.

Anyway, Steve and I are off on a fishing charter in about an hour, so hopefully we can catch a big one.

Stay tuned.

Day 131 - I'm on the road again....

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my travels. Yes, that's right, I'm back on the road again.

For those of you who may not know, my mother, who had been battling a serious illness, died last week, and therefore I came home to see her before she passed away. It was a roller-coaster of a week, and I'd just like to say thanks to all the people who contacted me to give me support, as well as all the people who came to her funeral. She would have been so pleasantly surprised by the amount of people that turned out.

A special thanks need to go out to those people that helped out in the funeral, you know who you are, as well as those people who came from far and wide to be there.

Anyway, I shall move on in this blog, although not in my heart.

So today I got back on the road, with a 13 hour trip. That included driving 50 km to the airport, catching 2 flights to get to Karratha, and then driving 250 km to get to Port Hedland. A big days travel, but with some nice times in between.

When I got to Karratha, I was picked up by my cousin Gareth, who was minding my car. Not only were they doing that, they also washed it (heaven forbid) and bought me food for my trip. They treated me so nicely, I look forward to seeing the whole Palmer clan when they come to Melbourne at Christmas.

So I'm now in Port Hedland, although I haven't seen much of it, since I got here at 8pm. I'll do a quick drive around town tomorrow morning, before heading off to Broome to catch up with the Steve Machar clan.

Catch you all soon.

Kate, Eva and Gareth

Days 117 -> 121 - Heading home

Hi Everyone,

Some of you may be wondering where I've been at the last few days. After having such a lovely day with the Whale Shark, unfortunately at the end of it, we got a phone call with some bad news. Our mother, who's been battling Lung Cancer for the past 18 months wasn't feeling too good, so it was a joint decision to fly home to spend some time with her.

So, for the past few days, I've been back in wonderfully warm Melbourne. And most likely will be for some days to come.

I'll let you all know, via this wonderful blog system, when I'm back on the road.

Day 117 - Hellooooo Whale Sharks

Hi All, how is everyone? I hope you're well.

Well today was the day that I achieved my 2nd most important thing of my trip, swimming with Whale Sharks. And it was a fantastic day.

There were 20 people on the boat, and at the start of the day, we were advised of what the plans were, mainly trying to see Whale Sharks, Humpback Whales and Manta Rays. But before we headed out too deep in the water, the boat gave us a 30 minute snorkel on the reef, just to get us used to the swim. In that time, we saw turtles, thousands of fish, including 3ft round Batfish. Fantastic.

After the initial dive, we headed out deep, I mean not being able to see the bottom, and followed a spotter plane for about an hour, before the captain of the boat yelled "Whale Shark spotted", at which time everyone rushed to get all their diving gear on. It was funny, the 20 poeple were split up into two groups, as only 1 group can go in at a time. It wasn't long before we could see it on the side of the boat, and in we all hopped, following our marker. And what a beautiful fish to watch. It wasn't bothered with us at all, mainly staying at the top of the water. We estimated it to be about 5 metres long, so a small one in whale shark terms, but a huge fish in my eyes. After 5 minutes, we had to jump out, so the other team could get in, and this was repeated for about an hour. One go, it swam so fast for us, it was hard to keep up, but the next time we were in, all it wanted to do was circle us. Fantastic.

After our hour long "swim" we had to leave it, legally, and so headed up the coast, and it wasn't too long before we spotted 3 humpback whales, which we followed for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, you don't get to swim with those.

On our way back, we stopped off just outside the reef to hunt for Manta Rays. It wasn't long before we found about 20 of them, all over the 3 metre size, and all happy to swim with us. Such lovely creatures. I could have almost ridden one I think.

So everyone on our boat had a great time, all achieving what they wanted. This is some event that I recommend to anyone who has an interest in animal/aquatic things. Fantastic.